‘The Office:’ Revelation time

Wow! Who saw any of that coming? Angela, so quick to decree green a “whorish color” and so judgmental about Pam’s relatively innocent flirtation with Jim during her engagement to Roy, has been revealed to have more in common with green than one might have thought. And Michael, not generally seen as a whiz kid, is summoned to David Wallace’s office to share his business philosophy. Quite the episode!

In tone, the conclusion (for now) of the Angela/Andy/Dwight triangle neatly echoed much of the original British series. Some of it was funny — Andy’s duel strategy of pinning Dwight with his Prius comes to mind — but it was also so painful that it left me feeling a little nauseous. I even felt sorry for Angela in the final moments, even though she certainly had that coming. (Who would have thought that the sight of a bobblehead doll being tossed into a trashcan could be so incredibly sad?)

The other main thread — David Wallace trying to understand how it is that the Scranton branch is making money — was all straight-ahead comedy, though we can all glean a little something from Michael’s personal philosophy: “Don’t ever, for any reason, do anything to anyone for any reason, no matter what or who you are, or where you are going or where you’ve been, ever, for any reason whatsoever.” So true.

Unanswered questions: How did this bunch (Michael, especially) manage to go 18 days without revealing Angela’s secret? Just how is it that the Scranton branch is managing to thrive when the others — presumably headed by more competent managers — are faltering? And where the heck was Toby during this episode? I would assume that even Dunder Mifflin’s HR department takes a dim view of dueling in the workplace.

What we learned: Unless Andy was lying, which I suspect, Angela finally gave in and had sex with him a couple of times. For a man with an extensive weapons cache stashed around the office, Dwight is awfully vulnerable to an attack from behind. And the Prius isn’t much of a weapon in a duel.

Best lines: Kevin, trying to tweak Angela: “I’m sorry I did such a whorish job filling out the form.” Angela, weakly trying not to answer Andy’s direct question about her affair with Dwight: “That doesn’t sound like me.” Michael (giving us all something we can all use during our performance reviews): “I am so impressed with the potential you see in me.”